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So, I waited.
See…I get that I wasn’t being normal.
I’m young. I’m new to this world, and this town, and I was still just starting out on the exploratory trek of finding what the hell I wanted to do in the world, but the usual roles that I should be portraying, the ones that spoke of my background and upbringing, I wasn’t. I wasn’t new, or innocent, or eager. I wasn’t ambitious. I wasn’t hopeful.
I was jaded.
I was tired.
Give me a fight to break up and I’d wade in without a second thought; that was the world I was comfortable in. If she was hoping to get a new recruit, someone ready to ask how high when told to jump—I needed to make sure she was disappointed from the very start. That was me. That was who I was. Doing my thing.
“You don’t say much.”
I cracked a grin at that. “My brother’s the charming one.”
She leaned back in her chair slowly. The papers were pushed back, and she moved her chair to face me more fully. The way she was looking at me, I had a feeling she was about to lay some ground-moving shit out there. Or it would be in her opinion.
I wasn’t holding my breath for it.
She raised her chin up, just slightly. “Can you type?”
“Graduated school.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Can you keep shit quiet?”
“Only telling you my name because I have to.”
Her mouth flattened a second. She pushed forward, resting her elbows on her knees. That same surveying look didn’t waver. “Can you fight?”
“Yes.”
“You in school?”
“No.”
“You want to go to school?”
“I’m here first.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What does that even mean?”
I tipped my chin up this time, my tone a little cooler. I’d just been rock steady before. “Means that’s my personal business and not yours.” The truth is that I didn’t know what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go. But who was she for me to explain all of that to? I took a breath. “My brother wouldn’t want me to come in here and be disrespectful, I have to add on, ‘no offense.’” I turned up one corner of my own mouth, letting it fall the next beat. “You want to know about me? I’m a fighter. I ain’t no bounty hunter. Never shot a gun, wore a vest, used a Taser, and honestly, never wanted to do or use any of those. But your people found me in a job that I didn’t like being in, and I’m here for the next four years, at least. I need to do something. I need to make money. Somehow my brother thought this would work for me. If you know my brother, people tend to trust him. I guess this is me trusting him.”
Her eyes inched closed the more and more I spoke.
At the end, she held her head up, straightening back as if she thought I was a snake about to strike. “I don’t know your brother, but I’ve heard his reputation. I’m trying to assess if you’re going to be a gigantic pain in my ass or not.”
“No.”
She didn’t flinch. “Then I’m also trying to determine if you’ll be a danger to my people or not.”
I flinched on the inside. “No.”
I had a bit more bite in my tone.
Her eyes opened wider, just a centimeter. She heard that, too. “You didn’t like that, huh?”
I didn’t respond.
She didn’t look like she thought I was going to respond and, chewing on the inside of her cheek for a moment, she let out a sigh. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the papers and handed them to me. “Fill those out. Come back tomorrow at five, dress in all black.”
I grabbed the papers and stood. “Five in the afternoon?”
She shook her head, a smile starting. “Nope.” She was almost beaming when I turned to go. “Hey, Bren.”
I looked back.
The smile was gone. In its place was something dark, so dark that her face didn’t show it. I only knew it was there because I felt it deep inside of me. “No matter the job description on paper, you’ll be going on ride-alongs. If you remain here, you’ll progress. You might even want to take the test in the future. Either way, you’ll be in dangerous situations alongside my people. If you do anything stupid to put them in danger, you’re out. I don’t give a rat’s ass about what connections you might be bringing to my family. You got me?”
I didn’t respond. I got her, and she saw that I got her. No words needed.
I opened the door, papers in hand, and I left.
FROM: Brenners
TO: Tazsters
SUBJECT:
Typing this as I’m waiting for your brother. Tell me what’s new with you?
FROM: Tazsters
TO: Brenners
SUBJECT: OMG!!!!!
OMG! HOW ARE YOU? I’VE MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!
Things are good here. I’m LOVING my roommate, but I think she’s got a thing for Race. She told me she like boxers A LOT and then looked right at Race. It got uncomfortable as fuck, and I’m not down with it.
